School‚ police did nothing to help assault victim‚ says dad

The family of a 17-year-old Durban girl whose assault video went viral on Thursday feel let down by the school where the attack happened.

TimesLIVE identified the school‚ Siyathuthuka Secondary in Inanda north of Durban‚ on Thursday evening.

Education officials later confirmed that information and said the department would continue investigating the incident.

Pupils who attend the school were aware of the video and led TimesLIVE to the victim’s twin sister.

But the tearful victim refused to watch the video and her sister confirmed it was her and said the assault had taken place in November last year.

The girls asked to be interviewed in the presence of their father.

TimesLIVE has decided to withhold the family’s names to avoid further trauma.

The father‚ a single parent‚ has since taken his daughter out of Siyathuthuka‚ fearing for her safety after the video was widely shared among pupils‚ teachers and the community.

“I went to the school’s management who claimed to be unaware of the incident. I also went to the boy’s family but they were not helpful. I then went to the local satellite police station but the police said they would not charge the boy because it wouldn’t help as court would release him on bail‚” the father said.

The father said when he saw the video circulating a few weeks later he nearly took the law into his own hands but calmed down and decided that his daughter should change schools as she felt victimised.

The father said he felt humiliated as he did not know how to help his daughter.

“That’s why I thought the best thing was to take her out of that school‚” he said.

Recounting the events of that day in November‚ the victim’s sister said it all started when she and other pupils‚ including the perpetrator‚ teased each other.

“He lost it and slapped me in the face. Later my sister went to him to enquire what had happened. That’s where the argument started and he beat her and kicked her to the ground in between the computer laboratory and other classrooms while another boy took the video as he cheered him on‚” she said.

The matter was reported by the sister to the school management‚ who did nothing to sanction the perpetrator.

“All my sister was doing was to establish what had happened.”

The boy has since left the school and is now schooling in KwaMashu‚ the family said.

As news of the video spread on Thursday‚ the KwaZulu-Natal education department called for the boy’s arrest.

KZN education spokesman Muzi Mahlambi said he was so disturbed by the video that he couldn’t even watch to the end of the 22-second clip.

“I promise you‚ once we find out the school‚ we will rush there. We will take harsh action against anyone involved. This kind of brutal and unacceptable assault cannot happen in our schools‚” he said.